1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method and related management architecture for managing bundles in an open services gateway initiative service platform, and more particularly, to a method and related management architecture for improving a modular level, communicative ability and transplantation ability in the open services gateway initiative service platform.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the rapid development of Internet, Internet services are blooming, and no longer limited in job scope, but associated with home life instead, so that lifestyle of digital home is started. In digital home services, a home gateway, communicating with internal and external networks, plays a crucial role. All kinds of devices in a house can communicate with each other through the home gateway.
Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGi) is an integrated platform of information services, integrated into a gateway, so that application programs and value-added services, provided by a remote service provider, can be dynamically downloaded to the home gateway via Internet, and automatically installed. OSGi realizes a complete and dynamical device module, such that applications (named Bundles) can be remotely installed, initiated, updated and removed without re-guiding. Furthermore, the corresponding Application Programming Interface (API) defines life cycle management for performing remote downloading, and service registry allows bundles to exam new and canceled services.
In the beginning, OSGi focuses on the home gateway. However, applications of OSGi are broadened, and can be applied to telecommunication service products, embedded in Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and mobile phones, or co-worked with personal computers and other consumer electronic products. For example, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communicator, an all aspect communication software or instant message (IM) software based on OSGi, has many advantages such as cross-platform transplantation, and supports many kinds of IM communication systems, such as ICQ, MSN, AOL Yahoo message, Jabber and so on, as well as transmission and receipt of video signals of network phones.
In the prior art, the SIP communicator can mainly be divided into three parts: Protocol Service Bundle, User Interface Service Bundle and Libraries Bundle. The relationship of each bundle conforms to the OSGi rule, such that removing any of the bundles does not affect other bundles. In the SIP communicator, User Interface Service Bundle is an entry point of the main program; that is, configuration of the SIP communicator is controlled by User Interface Service Bundle. In such a case, since User Interface Service Bundle is represented by a user interface, a user cannot set the SIP communicator if the SIP communicator is installed in an architecture without any peripheral output, which may affect operations of the SIP communicator.